ASU’s Graham Rossini emphasizes importance of safety following Texas Tech game fine
ASU athletic director Graham Rossini emphasized the importance of safety after the program was fined for fans storming the field after its win against Texas Tech.
Watch: Kenny Dillingham, Reed Harris & Graham Rossini talk from Camp Tontozona | 18 mins
After Arizona State football was fined $50,000 for rushing the field against Texas Tech last week, athletic director Graham Rossini emphasized how safety must be a top priority if fans rush the field again.
“We’re always mindful of the scenario where if we’re playing a top 10 team and there’s a chance our fans could be rushing the field and we’re supportive of that,” Rossini said on Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo on Thursday.
“Those are core memories. They’re incredible moments for our students to be a part of. We love the fact that our fans love to celebrate the team and we got to make sure it’s a safe and responsible environment.”
Field rushes can be “core memories” for students and fans, ASU athletic director Graham Rossini told @BurnsAndGambo.
It’s most importantly about celebrating ASU instead of rubbing it into opponents’ faces, Rossini said on the AD Update presented by America Roofing. pic.twitter.com/f3la20SqqE
— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) October 23, 2025
Rossini said the dynamic behind the fine for Saturday’s game was fans wanting to get into the face of Texas Tech players, which he strongly opposes.
“That’s not who we are and not how we want to operate,” Rossini said.
The scenario is a familiar one for ASU football, who experienced two games last season where fans rushed the field after a victory, including the upset win against BYU last season where fans rushed the field twice. ASU was fined $25,000 following the incident.
Rossini said the program is prepared to handle these situations and it will be important to make sure everyone gets off the field safely.
“I think the most important thing moving forward is we’re gonna have these moments again and we want to build that in our plan and make sure we can execute safe exits for the visiting teams and celebrate us,” Rossini said.
Graham Rossini on ASU goalpost malfunction
Rossini added on Thursday that safety has to be a priority all around the field, especially after a video on X showed goalposts going down awkwardly following the conclusion of the game last week.
Rossini said the Texas Tech game was the first one with new hydraulic goalposts that the program put in place. He added a big reason behind the new goalposts was to have the ability to get them back up quickly if needed.
“We’re on it and I don’t think that situation will happen again,” Rossini said. “If you watch the video, we had a ton of staff there just for the redundant coverage and making sure we weren’t putting ourselves in harms way there. Learning lesson from last week and we will turn the page and get ready for Houston.”
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Comments
4 Comments
Actually the novelty IS special… That’s why they do it
If it wasn’t special to knock off a top 10 school, nobody would want to rush the field
ASU football fans have seen a whole lot of disappointment & mediocrity over the years… I think people who complain about field storming now that we get to do it more often are taking some of the joy out of the game. I think it should be allowed, with caveats for safety
Basically I just agree with what Rossini is saying
I'm not sure how they could do this but if they can find a way to quickly and safely get the teams off the field (visiting team especially), let the fans storm the place. As mentioned below, ASU football has not had much worth storming for a long time so let 'em run and have fun.
Being supportive of ASU fans rushing the field is beyond moronic, especially for the schools' Athletic Director, but it does help explain a whole ton of really questionable decisions they've made going back decades. If someone would get injured, I would hope that ASU ends up getting sued to the verge of bankruptcy, which ends up costing clowns like the AD his job.
Students and others who attend games, because the moron AD didn't come out discouraging rushing the field specifically, will read the AD's words in this Article and be inclined to believe that ASU is actually supporting rushing the field. SMH IDIOT. CLEAN UP ON AISLE 1.